Field
The present invention relates generally to agricultural tillage equipment and, more specifically, to a vertical tillage sweep providing low surface disturbance.
Background
Rippers, sweeps, and the like are devices used with various types of equipment to engage with the ground for the purpose of fracturing, breaking up, and mixing the soil. Such tools are commonly used in agricultural and construction settings to engage soils for a variety of purposes. Rippers typically are attached to the end of tines and then are towed behind or used in combination with various types of equipment to prepare soils for further processing—such as planting.
Preparing soil for planting includes several goals:
It is desirable to disturb the surface coverage as little as possible to reduce erosion. It is also desirable to cause as little soil compaction as possible. These two goals have been met in the prior art generally, by completing soil preparation with a single tractor pass and using sub soil tools with a single shank.
It is also desirable to cut roots. A common sub soil tool to cut roots is a sweep. Sweep blades are generally flat with a V shape. They work a relatively thin layer of soil. Typically, a sweep blade would work the soil at a 3 inch depth. The sweep blade effectively removes compaction in this thin upper layer of soil.
It is also desirable to reduce compaction in the lower level of soil. The benefits include improve water absorption, better plant root growth, and greater availability of nutrients deep in the soil. A deep tillage tool or ripper shank at a 6 inch depth or more is used to reduce compaction in the lower soil level. Larger field equipment in recent years has caused lower level compaction. A freeze/thaw cycle may not reduce this compaction and deep mechanical tillage is necessary.
Moldboard tillage is a prior art technique where moldboard plows are used to invert the furrow 180 degrees thereby burring plant material and uncompacting a section of soil. The method, however, it not desirable because it does not leave the surface coverage intact greatly increasing the likelihood of erosion.
Another area of concern with these types of parts is that the parts undergo substantial wear and tear as they impact soil, and as such are a wear part that needs periodic replacement or repair. Wear coating is commonly used to reduce the amount of wear. Typically, wear coating such as tungsten carbide is slathered on the parts in a haphazard way; with the hope that the more of the surface that is covered the longer the device will last. However, this approach suffers from a number of drawbacks.
First, wear coating dulls the cutting or ripping edges thereby interfering with the ability of the part to cleanly and efficiently engage the soil. Additionally, wear coating placed unnecessarily is a waste of time and money, and does not end up increasing the life of the parts.
An additional factor in the effectiveness and longevity of these types of parts is the design and configuration of the devices. Again, prior art devices are not efficiently designed. Design features also impact the materials from which the parts can be made, as well as the ease of manufacturing.
The following illustrates some specific prior art solutions to the above problems, however, they suffer from a number of drawbacks.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,335 granted to Walt shows a sweep attached to a deep tillage tool. The multipart construction has cost and durability disadvantages.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,686 granted to Parker outlines another system. It shows a deep tillage tool with wings attached. The multipart construction has cost and durability disadvantages.
Accordingly, a need exists for a tillage tool that substantially eliminates the problems of the prior art.